9. The Great Responsibility
The Quran says in chapter six:
Say, ‘What counts most in testimony?’ Say, ‘God is my witness and your witness. This Quran has been revealed to me, so that I may warn you (people) and all whom it may reach. Do you really bear witness that there are other gods besides God?’ Say, ‘I myself do not bear witness to any such thing.’ Say, ‘He is only one God, and I disown whatever you join with Him.’ (6:19)
The Prophet Muhammad was sent as a ‘warner’ for the whole of humanity, but he lived on for only 63 years. Now the question arises as to how, after he had passed away, his message was to be conveyed when he was no longer in this world. The answer to this question has been given in the above verse of the Quran.
This verse quotes the words of the Prophet: ‘The Quran has been revealed to me, so that I may warn you (people) and all whom it may reach.’ During his lifetime the Prophet conveyed the message of the Quran by his own efforts. Now, the question arises as to which medium was to be used to convey the message of the Quran to people of later periods. The believers, or the followers of the Prophet, were and continued to be the medium through which the message was to be subsequently conveyed. After the Prophet had gone, the Muslims were to perform the task of conveying the message on his behalf. In every age, believers will convey the message of the Quran to the people of their times. This work will continue till doomsday.
The Quran is a divine warning. Nowhere in the divine revelations is it said that it should be kept on the shelves as if it were any other ordinary book. It is compulsory rather that it should reach the maximum number of people throughout the ages. If the Prophet had not performed the task of conveying the message of the Quran, his prophethood could have become doubtful in the eyes of God. For this reason, the Prophet carried out this task with the utmost earnestness, so that the message of the Quran could reach people everywhere. Even at the end, addressing the Prophet, God Himself said in the Quran: ‘You may destroy yourself with grief because people do not believe.’ (18:6)
The responsibility which formerly fell to the Prophet has now to be discharged by his adherents. The believers have to become the medium through which the message of the Quran may be delivered to the whole of humanity. The Muslims and especially the religious scholars (ulama’) must prove themselves by becoming the well-wishers and guides of humanity. And they must do so with the utmost earnestness. Indeed, they need to involve themselves to such a degree that they should appear to be destroying themselves in their endeavour.
The conveying of the message of Truth to everyone, the responsibility for which has been placed on the Muslims, is not like an optional subject, which you may either take up or make some excuse to leave off. This is a responsibility of such a nature that it has to be discharged at all costs.
Just as no excuse was acceptable from the Prophet, similarly no excuse made by the followers of the Prophet will be heard and found acceptable by God. Even other religious acts and deeds will not be enough for the salvation of the believers, if they have ignored the responsibility of conveying the message of Truth to all the people.
Thousands of men and women are dying every day without having had the message of God conveyed to them; without having had the opportunity to accept it, they have missed their chance of improving their lives in the Hereafter. In such a situation it is the grave responsibility of the believers to desist from making excuses and seriously take up the mission of proclaiming the divine truth.
